The Art Newspaper

Patchy sales but great cooking at Roma fair

Third edition saw visitor numbers up, but as much talking as there was buying

By Javier Pes. Web only
Published online: 28 June 2010

New York’s art world has the meatpacking district to schmooze, but it’s not a patch on Rome’s Testaccio, where the third edition of the Roma art fair was held from 27-30 May.

Set in the neoclassical pavilions and cobbled yard of what was Rome’s central abattoir and is now a branch of Macro (Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma), the fair looked impressive, and the aisles crowded, for the evening private view at least. The noisy gridlock in Testaccio as fairgoers arrived added to the Felliniesque atmosphere.

The number of visitors to Roma: The Road to Contemporary Art, the fair’s full title, was 50,000, up 30% from last year. Of the 69 galleries taking part, 17 were from Rome. Fair director Roberto Casiraghi seemed satisfied at the young fair’s progress, and Rome’s burgeoning contemporary art scene. Holding the fair in one place instead of several as before was a boon to collectors also enticed by the opening of the long-awaited MaXXi and a soft opening of Macro’s new main home (another grand project almost a decade in the making) the same week.

Did sales match the handsome setting and higher attendance? The picture was patchy. Averil Curci, associate director of Brancolini Grimaldi, was pleased to find buyers for Massimo Vitali’s Cabo Frio, 2004, €25,000, an artist’s proof sold to a private Roman collector, and Miles Aldridge's Kristen #12, 2009, which another local collector acquired (no price given). But the Rome and Florence-based gallery hoped for “a more international collector base”. Gabriele Gaspari of Magazzino d’Arte Moderna, said the fair was “quite good” for the Roman gallery, selling a photographic diptych by Elisabetta Benassi inspired by space-race magazine covers of the 1960s. “The price range was under €20,000 for any of the works we sold, all of them went to Italian private collectors,” he said. But several galleries reported only discussions and no closed deals at the fair, including the striking neo-classical figures in marble by Fabio Viale that are covered in Russian mafia-style tattoos (price range €30,000 to €48,000) at Gagliardi Art System of Turin’s stand.

Gastronomically Roma set a new standard for art fairs. Four chefs, including one with a Michelin star, cooked for the al fresco diners among the old cattle stalls. The fair’s bag even doubled up as a cooking apron—a bargain at €32.